Rise in school absence among autistic kids leaves Wirral family at breaking point
A growing number of children with special educational needs are missing out on school across the North West, with many families reporting long waits for support and diagnoses.
Among them is 15-year-old Charlie Jones from Wallasey, who hasn't attended school in two months. He's one of thousands of autistic pupils struggling to access mainstream education, a trend experts say reflects broader challenges in the system, not just individual cases.
'I love learning,' Charlie says. 'I just want to do it in the right environment.'
Charlie has been waiting more than two years for an autism diagnosis. His parents, Michelle and Dave, say school became overwhelming, and the lack of timely support left them with no choice but to remove him.
'We've had to work it all out ourselves - what he needs, how to apply for help, how to keep him learning while holding down jobs,' says Michelle. 'It's felt like a constant uphill climb.'
Charlie's Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), which outlines additional support for his education, was only issued this year, after the legal deadline had passed. While it's a vital step, his parents feel it came too late to prevent disruption.
Wirral City Council have since apologised for the late entry of the EHCP, which it says was caused by an error in Charlie's date of birth on the form.
Figures suggest Charlie's situation is not unique. In the 2023–24 academic year, 8,090 autistic pupils in the North West were persistently absent from school, up from 2,534 in 2017–18. That's a 219% increase over five years.
Wirral Council currently has the highest rate of persistent absence among autistic pupils in the region. A recent Ofsted report acknowledged 'longstanding failings' in provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
In a statement, Wirral Council said: 'In September 2024, Wirral Council committed to an additional £2.8m in recurrent funding to increase the size of its statutory SEND service, doubling the size of the team of caseworkers. The new service, SENDSTART, has been fully staffed since January 2025 and whilst this has yet to have an impact of 20-week compliance rates, the number of Education, Health and Care Plans being finalised has increased significantly. In both months March and April this year, more children had their EHCPs finalised than the totality of the sixth months previous.
'The Local Area Partnership understands there is much more remaining to be done until it is providing consistently good support and services to children and young people with SEND but is committed to doing so. A new SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy and Joint Commissioning Plan are about to be launched, outlining priorities and improvements to be made over the next three years. It is through the partnerships across agencies, and mostimportantly, with dynamic parent carer groups that we will make this change for the benefit of our children and their futures.'
Charities agree that the system is under strain. Danae Leaman-Hill from Ambitious About Autism says: 'There are more children needing support than ever before. Services are stretched, but that doesn't change the fact that these are formative years, and delays can have long-term consequences.'
A spokesperson for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside said:" Responding to feedback from parents, families, and children and young people, we are launching a new neurodevelopmental pathway and vision for neurodiversity services across Cheshire and Merseyside in June 2025. Schools will be supported by the NHS and Local Authorities to be trained in the use of the 'This Is Me' profiling tool to better understand the child's needs - leading to a targeted early support offer in response to those needs.
"This work is part of our 'Partnerships for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools' (PINS) programme, which builds schools' capacity to support the needs of neurodiverse children.
"This is an important step forward, but we know that there is still plenty of work to be done.'
For Charlie, the hope is that the system will catch up with him and others. He's currently waiting to hear if he's been accepted into a new school that may better suit his needs.
'We're hopeful,' says Dave. 'We just want him to have the chance to thrive.'
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